A previously unknown piece of
juvenilia by great 19th century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi
has been found in Naples and published for the first time.
The eight-page exercise book on which a 16-year-old Leopardi
wroted his observations on poetry, philosophy, politics and
society also contains a list of 160 favourite authors both
ancient and modern.
The authors are cross-references by over 550 numerical codes by
the precocious youth, whose learning at a young age was
prodigious.
The text was found in the Fondo Leopardiano in the National
Library in Naples by Marcello Andria and Paola Zito, who have
edited a version for publication by Le Monnier Università.
"We have a text by Leopardi just turned 16, an assiduous
frequenter of his father's library, who has compiled a thorough
and wide-ranging analysis of the opera omnia of the emperor
Julian," the editors said.
Leopardi (1798-1837) is considered Italy's greatest poet after
Dante and also one of its greatest philosophers, whose canonical
works are studied in every Italian school.
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